SAINT MARY’S IN TUXEDO The Holy Eucharist: Rite Two First Sunday after Christmas December 27, 2020 Welcome to St. Mary’s-in-Tuxedo! For your safety, the church buildings remain closed except for the 10am service on Sundays and Wednesdays. All services continue to be broadcast online and the act of spiritual communion is a valid way of receiving Christ in lieu of the Holy Eucharist. Parishioners should only attend in-person worship when they feel safe and comfortable doing so. For those attending in-person, please be mindful of the following guidelines: ● Everyone (no exceptions) must wear a mask at all times which fully covers their nose and mouth. ● Hand sanitizer will be available and should be used upon entering the church and immediately before taking communion. ● Only one individual, or family that lives together, per open pew; pews that are marked off with tape and signs should not be used at all. A distance of six feet must be maintained. ● There will be no childcare or Sunday School; we will not have coffee hour. ● There will be no congregational singing; music will be provided by organist and cantor. ● The celebrant, lector, cantor, and organist may temporarily remove their mask to speak, sing, or play, as long as they are at least twelve feet away from anyone else. ● The celebrant will bring communion (bread only) to each pew; parishioners who wish to receive will remain standing, receive the host on their hands, and then wait until the celebrant has stepped away before lowering their mask to consume the host. All baptized Christians (from any denomination) are welcome to receive Communion. ● The wardens and ushers will ensure all safety protocols are followed, including the collection of names to assist with contact tracing if necessary. ● Anyone who tests positive for COVID and has attended a service in-person should notify the senior warden or rector immediately; we will do everything possible to protect your confidentiality. The full procedures we will be following to keep everyone safe may be found at: https://conta.cc/38iG1W5 The Word of God Prelude Two settings of the Chorale “All Glory be to God on High” Friedrich Wilhelm Zachau (1663-1712) Johann Gottfried Walther (1684-1748) Please stand Celebrant Blessed be God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. People And blessed be his kingdom, now and for ever. Amen. The Collect for Purity Celebrant Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid: Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy Name; through Christ our Lord. Amen. ​ Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Celebrant and People Glory to God in the highest, and peace to his people on earth. Lord God, heavenly King, almighty God and Father, we worship you, we give you thanks, we praise you for your glory. Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of the Father, Lord God, Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world: have mercy on us; you are seated at the right hand of the Father: receive our prayer. For you alone are the Holy One, you alone are the Lord, you alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father. Amen. The Collect of the Day Celebrant The Lord be with you. People And also with you. Let us pray. Almighty God, you have poured upon us the new light of your incarnate Word: Grant that this light, enkindled in our hearts, may shine forth in our lives; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. ​ Please be seated The First Reading Isaiah 61:10-62:3 I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my whole being shall exult in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. For as the earth brings forth its shoots, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations. For Zion's sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until her vindication shines out like the dawn, and her salvation like a burning torch. The nations shall see your vindication, and all the kings your glory; and you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will give. You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. The Word of the Lord. People Thanks be to God. Gradual Psalm 147:1-11 Laudate Dominum Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924) PRAISE the LORD, for it is a good thing to sing praises unto our God; * yea, a joyful and pleasant thing it is to be thankful. 2 The LORD doth build up Jerusalem, * and gather together the outcasts of Israel. 3 He healeth those that are broken in heart, * and giveth medicine to heal their sickness. 4 He telleth the number of the stars, * and calleth them all by their names. 5 Great is our Lord, and great is his power; * yea, and his wisdom is infinite. 6 The LORD setteth up the meek, * and bringeth the ungodly down to the ground. 7 O sing unto the LORD with thanksgiving; * sing praises upon the harp unto our God: 8 Who covereth the heaven with clouds, and prepareth rain for the earth; * and maketh the grass to grow upon the mountains, and herb for the use of men; 9 Who giveth fodder unto the cattle, * and feedeth the young ravens that call upon him. 10 He hath no pleasure in the strength of an horse; * neither delighteth he in any man's legs. 11 But the LORD’S delight is in them that fear him, * and put their trust in his mercy. Gloria Patri. The Epistle Galatians 3:23-25; 4:4-7 Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed. Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God. The Word of the Lord. People Thanks be to God. Please stand The Gospel John 1:1-18 Celebrant The Holy Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to John. People Glory to you, Lord Christ. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth. (John testified to him and cried out, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.'") From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father's heart, who has made him known. Celebrant The Gospel of the Lord. People Praise to you, Lord Christ. The Sermon The Rector The Nicene Creed Please stand We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father. Through him all things were made.